EDH Benchwarmers — Kruphix, God of Colourless Mana

Last time I built a deck I made the fatal flaw of confusing NBA All-Star Demar DeRozan for classic centaur commander Stonebrow, Krosan Hero. This time I promise to make it up to everyone by giving a much-beloved and definite actual magic card, the benchwarmer treatment. This time we build a deck for Kruphix, God of Horizons.

One sweet thing about Kruphix is that, despite our restrictions of not using any cards that show up on his page on EDHREC, this deck’s ceiling is very high. Kruphix hoards mana like a person struggling to deal with the loss of a loved one hoards old newspaper clippings and cats. The sky is the limit in terms of mana cost and our imagination.

My Sol Ring is in here somewhere…

I Need This Moldy Teddy Ruxpin

Normally Kruphix decks are filled with X draw spells and the meanest Eldrazi around, which makes sense for such a big mana focused commander. But when you’re cut off from all of the flashy big spells Special K (Kruphix) uses, you’re essentially dealing with the mass of old junk your weird uncle keeps in his garage and front yard. Only, not so fast – sure this pile of stuff looks like old junk but could there be some gems hiding in this smelly pile of garbage that used to be a kitchen? As it turns out, EDHREC Kruphix users may be ignoring a whole whack of useful gems simply because they were under some old cereal boxes and in the same general area that was once called the bathroom but is now just not healthy to go near.

In our journey through the discarded Simic turd-pile there certainly are some top-tier cards I’m frankly surprised are not showing up in more decks. I’m not telling you to run more Blightsteel Colossus or Time Stretches, but they certainly fit right into the big mana philosophy this Simic deck wants to roll with. Can you believe those cards are not mentioned on the EDHREC page for Kruphix? It’s like I went looking for my ALF lunch box from grade 3 and accidentally found an actual X-Wing and the remote from Click instead. Screw the lunchbox, I’m flying this damn thing to Dagobah!

Naturally this deck has its share of big X spells like Endless One, Protean Hydra and even a Nimbus Swimmer but this version gets to run with the upside of being able to include my namesake Vorel of the Hull Clade to double up your +1/+1 counters on these and other big guys.

To be honest though, this deck is less about fancy synergies and more about getting the most mana and using it on huge effects. Whether that’s a big activation from Steel Hellkite, tutoring for a creature using Citanul Flute or even paying the cumulative upkeep on Mystic Remora without breaking anything close to a sweat. This deck takes a slightly different approach to the run-of-the-mill Kruphix decks by providing a lot of big mana sinks as the main way to spend all those weird little diamonds.

How is this not a creature?

Finding the Rembrandt of Clown Pictures

Speaking of diamonds, while sifting through Uncle Kruphix’s weird hoarder pile of Simic garbage, I found a bunch of cards I don’t think anyone has ever used in EDH before. Namely Mark of Sakiko, Pygmy Hippo and Hunter’s Prowess. Now these cards may not be all that good, or require a lot of set up, and there are much better versions of them readily available. But listen, when you’re sifting through a heap of discarded Dance Mix CDs and grocery bags filled with old calendars you’re gonna be stoked when you come across something that can draw you 10 or 11 cards even if it is at sorcery speed.

As far as mana rocks go, we are scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit, but there are a few decent options like Worn Powerstone, Simic Signet and Astral Cornucopia, which makes sense as yet another X spell in Uncle K’s basket of rocks. Not to be confused with your hoarder uncle’s basket of just actual rocks.

Uncle K, these are just rocks from your driveway.

You Didn’t Need That, Did You?

Counterspells are a necessity when talking about blue, and big mana, just because it plain hurts when you go to spend 19 mana on a huge hydra, someone plays Essence Scatter, and you feel like a true rube. Well just be careful in this deck to never completely tap out and always hold up a Syncopate or Condescend. Since these counterspells require X mana, however, it’s important that you use them very carefully. Try holding on to them only when it really matters; stopping a board wipe or another key counterspell is pretty much all you should be using them for.

Landfills

Finally, the lands. Luckily it seems like Kruphix players on EDHREC oddly avoid using really good lands. Oh, I can’t use Evolving Wilds but I can use High Market, Homeward Path and Maze of Ith? Uhh ok. I can even use Simic Guildgate, Lumbering Falls and Simic Growth Chamber! Like, are you guys even trying? A pretty solid mana base here. I’m never afraid to run mostly basics and not get super greedy when it comes to a 2 colour mana base, so I’m perfectly happy with the way this one turned out. It’s fairly easy on the wallet this way and definitely will get you what you need when you need it.

Well no one told you that YOU’D MAKE INFINITE COLOURLESS MANA

I Think I Have a Problem

So there you have it, if you were to call a regular Kruphix deck “Kruphix and Friends” you’d definitely call this one “Kruphix and Acquaintances”. But in life you need acquaintances because friends are always at your house, hanging around with you and it just becomes impossible to hide your serious hoarding problem from them. General acquaintances just kind of float around and you can always make up excuses like, “my cat is sick,” or “I haven’t vacuumed,” or “the city has condemned my living area” to keep them out of your business. Well consider this one the “I haven’t vacuumed” of commander decks and tell your friends to ignore your mess of cards.